While addictions are a disease and a complicated process to heal, feng shui, along with other alternative modalities are an excellent compliment to successful recovery.
Feng Shui is about energy and restoring balance and harmony where needed. Addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, work, etc. are an imbalance in the person’s chi (energy). This can be from many factors. A person’s makeup may be a contributing factor so we take a look at a person’s birthdate to reveal energetic tendencies towards addictions. In chinese astrology a person with too much water can be prone to depression leading to alcohol abuse. A good rehab program that one is committed to is a necessary part of recovery and is the first step to treating a severe addiction.
Many of the successful recovery programs now include meditation, chi gong, visualization, tai chi, yoga, and journaling to help aid the process.
What happens after one has completed a successful program and goes home? The real work begins. If your environment has the same chi or energy before you went to rehab, it will still be there. In feng shui your environment should reflect where you are and want to go or be, not where you have been.
Some Key Feng Shui Tips to Aid in Addiction Recovery:
1) Space Clear. Remove all stagnant energy from the past by smudging with native american sage. Keep doors and windows open while doing this. Visualize your past leaving the space.
2)Thoroughly clean your space by dusting and vaccuming after the clearing. A fresh new space has new energy.
3)Declutter. Get rid of anything from the past you do not need or want, esp. anything reminding you of your addiction like bongs, empty alcohol bottles, sex magazines, etc.
3) Paint your space a soothing color. Earth tones are grounding and greens are healing.
4) Add calming artwork.
5) Replace old reading materials with new books on healing, joy, laughter.
6)Remove water features as it stimulates alcohol use.
7) Keep your space simple with furniture arranged harmoniously. You’ve been through a lot with rehab and you need a space that is unencumbered, peaceful, and nuturing to your soul. It should not be work to maintain.
8)Activate Helpful People corner which is the Northwest part of your home. This will help to keep your sponsors, sober friends, healers, guides, always at your disposal. It will also help you to want them in your life.
9) Place a lucky bamboo plant in the East for good health and longevity.
Many physicians in rehab facilities approach feng shui with an “all’s fair” attitude, acknowledging that release from rehab is scary and it’s impossible to know what will help a person stay on the wagon. “It all has to do with energy and the way we perceive things,” said Chris Prentiss, co-founder and co-director of the Malibu treatment center Passages. “How we feel is largely a product of the conditions in which we live. And feng shui has the ability to change that in quite a dramatic way.”
When Prentiss bought the Passages property in 2001, he used feng shui principles to determine where the furniture should go — and did the same on the six houses he subsequently added to the enclave.
Still, he agrees that feng shui should be used only as part of a full complement of proven therapies.
“Feng shui by itself isn’t going to do it,” he said.
As a feng shui practitioner and a member of a family where alcohol and drug abuse prevail, I agree, we need all the tools that are available. No one modality will do it all but feng shui is quite powerful in affecting positive change.
If you or someone you know is suffering from an addiction and you would like more information on how feng shui can help, contact us via e-mail at:
Feng Shui Wishes for Healthy and Happy Recovery,
Belinda
Feng Shui Austin, TX.
Thanknyounfornbeingbhere with tips for recovering alcoholics. My sin is in his 2nd wk of residential rehab after detox. He’s 53 and been a beeraholic for 36 yrs. I’m a recovering addict of 25 years. He’s moved in with me and I wanted his room to support his recovery, beyond my space clearing, when he returned home in 2 weeks. THANK YOU!!!